Citibank has released 30 APIs (application programming interfaces) for developers in Hong Kong and will run an accelerator programme to identify fintech ideas with market potential.

The APIs spanned seven use cases, such as funds transfer, customer profile access, and credit cards management, and were made available on the bank's API developer portal. The site was first launched in the US and some Asian markets last November, including Singapore.

The Hong Kong launch would make Citibank the first in the local market to release its APIs, said Angel Ng, the bank's Hong Kong country business manager of global consumer banking.

"Technology evolves at the speed of light and clients now demand quicker and more tailored services that suit their changing lifestyle," Ng said. "By enabling the fintech community to access our open API architecture, we hope to contribute to the development of a positive incubation environment and a healthy ecosystem to propel the growth of fintech in Hong Kong."

The bank also launched an accelerator programme to identify developers with innovative product ideas and provide the resources to help bring these into production, Citibank said. Applicants would need to submit their product concept, which would be evaluated by fintech and industry experts. Shortlisted finalists would be able to feature their products on Hong Kong Demo Day in June and potentially win HK$650,000 (US$83,673).

OCBC Bank last May also launched its developer portal, Connect2OCBC, offering four APIs that provided a range of information on the bank's branch and ATM locations, foreign exchange rates, and credit cards.

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